Development and Evaluation of a Peer Feedback Tool for Communication Skills Courses in Engineering

05/30/2025

The current literature and the business domain have persistently highlighted the need for software engineers to communicate effectively for personal and career development as they graduate and move to the job market. This global demand for communication skills among software engineers has prompted computer science universities to include communication courses in their curricula. However, there are various difficulties in making this attempt successfully fill the gap, such as perceptions of the students and engineering schools themselves, the growing number of students in the classroom, and resistance to change in the use of modern methods and technologies. This dissertation intends to address these issues by developing a novel mobile app prototype called FeedbackFlow. This app aims to 1) facilitate providing immediate in-class feedback for Computer Science and Engineering students’ communication skills activities and 2) foster a peer feedback culture. This research aimed to understand the techniques employed in Peer Assessment, the advantages of using digital Peer Assessment tools in the classroom, the main challenges of implementing such tools, the most important features appropriate in the new tool, and gauge the effects on learning outcomes when using this tool. The evaluation phase of this research, through a mixed-method approach, yielded three main findings: First, peer feedback may improve classroom attention and engagement. Second, if well-trained and informed about the tool and the course’s peer feedback process, students appreciate peer feedback and can provide good feedback like teachers. Lastly, giving peer feedback can provide opportunities for self-learning and assessment.

Authors in the community:

• 

  B

  Basanta Poudel

  ist180894

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  C

  Cláudia Silva

  ist428694

• 

  A

  Augusto Esteves

  ist154298

electrical-engineering-electronic-engineering-information-engineering - Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

eng - English

Instituto Superior Técnico